Part of me wants Pereira to skyrocket to the top of the division just to see Adesanya sweat. Alex is extremely dangerous, and I'd give him a 50/50 chance against the champ if they fought tomorrow. He's a bad mf and did some heinous shit in kickboxing.
Nevertheless, he has to pass a few tests first. There are a few good grapplers and wrestling threats in the top 15 that we'd be unfulfilled not to see him have to go though, but this next fight 'shouldn't' be much of a challenge. Anything can happen, but Bruno Silva is as pure of a standup fighter as there are in MMA, but not more pure than Pereira. The fact we haven't seen Bruno finished by strikes is a wildcard factor, but Pereira has been making ground meat out of top kickboxers for years.
Pereira likely lands a devastating counter amidst a blitz/combo from Silva or snipes in a sneaky shot out of nowhere that levels him. Again, anything can happen and Pereira has lost before, but this is the most likely outcome imo, and honestly, obviously. I'm excited as hell for this fight either way, and will be rooting for Pereira (in part due to aforementioned Adesanya sweat), but mostly because he is a random af gift from the JBG's during a sort of weird time in the MW division where there is only 1 real title contender in Cannonier.
